Transceiver systems are required to run in various environments where they are subjected to thermal loads, which have the potential to damage electronic components. For example, during high transmission load periods, the temperature of various electronic components of a transceiver system may exceed a predetermined threshold for limited amounts of time. Similarly, during hot day operating conditions in an environment such as Phoenix, Ariz. or Needles, Calif. the temperature of various electronic components of a transceiver system may exceed a predetermined threshold for limited amounts of time, such as 10 to 20 hours per year. In order to avoid damaging the transceiver, the system is typically shut down and allowed to cool. The shutdown results in transmissions between the system and signal sources being lost. As a result, users of the system must wait for the transceiver to cool, restart and re-connect to the source before they are able to receive and transmit data. This delay is undesirable.
As such, components in transceiver systems may be designed to withstand thermal loads by employing expensive heat tolerant materials or by making use of heat dissipating mechanisms (e.g., fans) and structures (e.g., cooling fins). However, the heat dissipating mechanisms can be unreliable and greatly affect the overall reliability of the transceiver system. Further, heat dissipating structures are expensive to design and manufacture.
Thus, it is desirable to have an inexpensive system, method and apparatus for reducing the thermal load in a transceiver system without shutting down the transceiver.
Similarly, transceiver systems are required to run in various environments where they are subjected to cold temperatures. Such cold temperatures may cause gain increases. Such gain increases may cause ‘out-of-spec’ conditions. Furthermore, cold temperatures may cause amplifier circuits to have worse stability and to oscillate. Direct Current, “DC,” power consumption may also vary as a result of cold temperatures. These cold weather effects are therefore undesirable and it is desirable to have a flexible, inexpensive system, method and apparatus for reducing the radio frequency “RF” gain, improving stability of the circuits, controlling DC power consumption.